Champion of Human Services Award

This award recognizes a champion who has displayed extraordinary leadership and made an exceptional contribution to human services, based on the discretion and nomination by the OMSSA Board of Directors. More about this award...

2015 Recipients

Art Eggleton

Senator, Senate of Canada

Art Eggleton has served the people of Canada and the city of Toronto in public office for over 35 years.

He served 22 years as a member of Toronto City Council and the Metropolitan Toronto Council, most of those years on the Executive Committees of both Councils. Between 1973 and 1980, he served as City Budget Chief, the member of Council responsible for financial matters. From 1980 to 1991, for 11 of those 22 years, he was Mayor of Toronto, the longest serving Mayor in the City’s history.

In recognition of his service to the City, Mr. Eggleton received Toronto's highest honour, the Civic Award of Merit, in 1992.

Art Eggleton served 11 years in the House of Commons as the member for York Centre. First elected in 1993, he was soon thereafter appointed to Cabinet where he served in the following positions:

President of the Treasury Board & Minister Responsible for Infrastructure (1993-1996)

Minister for International Trade (1996-1997)

Minister of National Defence (1997-2002)

Vice-Chairman of Cabinet Committee on Economic Policy (1997-2002)

On March 24, 2005, Art Eggleton was appointed to the Senate of Canada. He currently serves as Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology and is a member of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications.

In December 2009, the Social Affairs Committee completed a study on poverty, housing and homelessness in Canadian cities entitled, In From the Margins: A Call to Action Poverty, Housing and Homelessness.

In 2012, he co-founded and is co-Chair of the All Party Anti-Poverty Caucus, a group consisting of Members of Parliament and Senators from all political parties.

Art Eggleton also serves in various volunteer capacities. He is Chair of the World Council on City Data which was created by the Global Cities Institute at the University of Toronto. In 2015 he was appointed by the Mayor of Toronto to be Chair of the Mayor's Task Force on Toronto Community Housing. He is an honorary member, or member, of several non-profit boards and advisory committees.

Hugh Segal

Master of Massey College, University of Toronto

Hugh Segal is the fifth Master of Massey College at the University of Toronto. While in the Senate of Canada (Conservative, Ontario) he Chaired both the committees on Foreign Affairs and Anti-Terrorism. A graduate ‎in history from the University of Ottawa, he is a former President of the Institute for Research on Public Policy in Montreal and Senior Fellow at both the Queen's School of Policy Studies and School of Business. He is the Honourary Chair of the Navy League of Canada and a Senior Fellow of the Canadian Defence and Foreign Affairs Institute in Calgary. An honorary Captain in the Royal Canadian Navy, Hugh holds honorary doctorates from the Royal Military College and his Alma Mater. He was made a member of the Order of Canada in 2003.